RIFE COMPANY

Tepi and I have known each other for over 15 years. He is a stalwart figure in the fashion and street wear industry and has held various positions at many major brands throughout his career.  In 2006 he opened up his first retail space in The City of West Covina (located in Los Angeles county) called Store 13, and has been on another level of street hustle ever since, so it was only natural he got his own peeple post.

Tell us a little about the store 13 brick and mortar stores and locations and some background on them?

Store13 was founded on the concept of a Lifestyle Boutique to bring influential brands from LA, SF & NY to my hometown of West Covina, CA.  Opening in November of 2006, was just really an idea that I thought I’d take a shot in the dark with.  After having to learn very quickly how to run a business, came the opportunity to open a second location in the world famous city of Pasadena, CA.  I think I have ADD and I’m sure it shows if you’ve shopped at Store13 over the past 5 years.  The reason that I say that is because 1 day I’m skateboarding, then the next I’m going to Vegas to see Kaskade, then finally I’m riding my Fixed Gear bike at the beach.  So I try to communicate that Southern California Lifestyle of being diverse.  That’s how I grew up, and that’s how I’m raising my kids.  And that’s why our customers love Store13 because we always keep them guessing.

How did you get your shot in the clothing/fashion industry? And when?

I grew up surfing even though I grew up in West Covina.  Over the years I became a friends with the crew at Huntington Surf & Sport on Main Street.  I always told them that I’d love to work there.  Three weeks after I graduated high school I got a phone call from them asking if I’d like to work there.  The next week I moved from West Covina to HB and the rest is history!  I actually owe a lot to the guys at HSS because I’m still friends with and still work with the old crew from HSS!

 Where do you see streetwear and fashion going now?

Fashion is forever.  Streetwear…

With stores like Huf and Primitive spreading their wings successfully into retail, do you see Store 13 also doing that?

Yes!  Store13 and our other brands have been approached many times by other retailers to carry our brand.  If we never opened a 2nd store in Pasadena, I bet you would’ve seen our brand in another store.  Now that the dust is settled and Store13.com is taking off, we plan on expanding our brand into wholesale.

For people yearning to break into the game what are some suggestions you may have for them? 

Go to school and learn accounting, business and graphic design.  Then find $$$ to back you!!!

#1 Played song on your IPOD?

Any song from Incubus

We pulled these photos on one of our older computers and they recently resurfaced, its from a shoot with Adoni & Arantaxa with Valerie Van Der Graaf. Skateboarding and fashion have always had a special place in our hearts.

We have received lots of emails regarding our tribute to HEAVY METAL page. It is pretty fun for us to scour through music and photos for inspiration every week, and as I wrap up this post I am listening to the Guns and Roses, Appetite For Destruction,  album so I am totally in full metal jacket mode!  We try to keep the page filled with iconic metal photos of the past and a few sprinklings of the present and in between, and we add photos weekly.  Below is a lil sample of some new mandatory metal digs, if you want to see more check out our dedicated METAL page. Have a good weekend.

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Dim Summmmm! We all needed a brief break from designing the Rife Clothing collection launch, so when we heard about Din Tai Fung restaurant, located in Arcadia, CA., we had to check the spot out for ourselves. WOW. It was so good and authentic and they even have a cool window inside the restaurant where you can watch them get steamed and folded. We will def go back next time we are in the SGV.

Major suggestion to reader: There are no reservations so make sure your iphone is fully charged or you will be bored our of your mind.  You may consider getting there right at 10:30am when they open if you do not want to wait more that an hour.

The arcade next door, an ice cold boba and games. Thats whats up.

At the drive in Reunion. Its all everyone has been talking about at the office, so I wanted to do a quick post about it.

Tony Hajjir (drummer for ATDI and Sparta) and I have been friends forever, I first heard their SOUND when they were signed to Fearless Records in the early 2000′s (which was odd since Fearless was 100% a punk label at that time) and have been a loyal fan ever since. I was sad when ATDI disbanded and hung their cleats up but it was cool to see Sparta and Mars Volta do their thing and become successful too, but as in many cases those bands are who they are and ATDI is who they are!  We could not be happier for this and I wish them the best of luck and cant wait to see them live again. Here’s an old press photo.

We will be hanging at the Agenda Trade Show all day. Come say hello and share some peanuts if you are around!  If you know you know. Ya know?